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Topic: Tomino (Tomini) Cheese Making Recipe (Read 10960 times)

I've searched around, and can't seem to find a recipe for Tomini (as it is called here in Italy, but in English you'd probably just call it 'Tomino'). There's the slightly aged kind with a thin rind that is cooked in a pan, and there's the fresh kind that is eaten as a appetizer in NW Italy where I live. It's a simple, creamy, fresh cheese that comes in little rounds (in liquid, when you buy them) with herbs on them. To be honest, I'm not sure if it is even eaten/made outside of Valle d'Aosta and Piemonte, but I am assuming so! It tastes like it's probably acid coagulated, and not cultured.

It seems like a simple little cheese to make, and I just need to figure out how to do it. Any one out there have an idea?

Tomino is produced with goats raw milk, but cows milk may also be used. The milk is heated to 80 °C and then cooled to 36 °C and coagulated by the addition of liquid calves rennet. The curd is cut a little then it is collected and drained in camembert moulds. The cheese is dry-salted. The ripening time is generally 1-2 days but ripening times of 15-20 days are also used. As this is a bloomy rind cheese it will also need the addition of Penicilum Candidum will also be neccesary.

I just found this post, even though it is super old. First of all Ciao! I am happy to find someone else from Italy on here. I am in Piemonte, and have made tomini freschi twice. They are NOT usually made with goat's milk, which you probably know. I made them bringing the milk to 22/23 degrees, added a little mesophillic starter (the caseificio near my house doesn't use any starter) and added about 4 drops of rennet to 3 liters of milk. Cover the pot and let sit at temperature 20-23 degrees for 12-24 hrs, depending on how acidic you want it. Scoop into cheese cloth and hang to dry until you have the consistency you like, add salt and form.For the paglierini (that's what we call them here sometimes)-the ones you were saying that an be grilled or in the oven, I would have to ask in a caseificio. I know they don't inoculate with molds, but that is what forms the rind, so they must have them in the aging environment. Just guessing, but maybe they are aged on straw (hence the name paglierini). When I go get milk this week I will ask and post what they have told me, but I am sure you have already found your answer by now.Where in Valle d'Aosta are you? I am in provincia di Torino.In boca al lupo, Celine

Have you ever had this cheese? It's awful! Looks gorgeous and has absolutely zero flavor. It's more blend than American cottage cheese. It's like a tiny camembert medalion with the taste of farmer's cheese. It is specifically recommended by the makers that you wrap it in bacon and put it in the oven until the bacon is crisp and the cheese melted. While bacon always saves the day... I would rather do that with some cheese that can stand up to it.

You mean the paglierini? They are definitely not my favorite either. In agriturismi they aren't uncommon as an antipasto, served hot in the oven with herbs (herbs de provence, or rosemary/sage/whatever they have) sprinkled on top. I apply the same rule to cheese as I do to Sake; if you have to serve either one hot, it is probably to cover up a less than exciting (best case scenario) product, OR a horribly offensive one (worst case scenario). Tomini freschi are not bad though. In our area they tend to make them a little more bland than I like, I am more of a chèvre kind of girl when it comes to fresh cheese. I never buy fresh tomini, but I make them for my father-in-law once in a while, I make them as I described in my earlier post, and they make for a nice, tangy cheese. Now that I have some Flora Danica, I will try to make them with that culture, I think I will like them even more. It makes for a fresh and simple plate at a BBQ if served with grilled veggies and a little tomino fresco, maybe a sprinkle of basil... I am getting excited about the good weather, and can't wait for all the fruits, veggies and herbs that it will bring!!

I agree with your rule. Cheese has to be good without the heat. Though I must say that Raclette, Gruyere and Vacherin are good examples for cheeses that are very good hot and are used hot -and therefore produced with the intention of being really good hot. Reblochon and Cheddar are other examples of cheese that takes a new life when grilled. So while I wouldn't cook with a good Sake, I would cook happily with any of the cheeses I mentioned just now. Traditionally, especially the alpine cheeses were used as a main course in the alpine winter, hot melted and scooped over boiled potatoes, or as a fondue. Even the people who make Vacherin bale them in their boxes (spruce boxes that are meant to be toasted with the cheese, so they are far thicker than camembert boxes).

The tomini I tried was extremely bland. Moreover, the package read in Italian the maker's recommendation to take a piece of bacon, roll it around and pin it with a toothpick to the cheese, then bake it at 180°C for 15-20 minutes They used a different universal food rule: When in doubt, always add bacon!

Never tasted the one with the herbs you are describing but perhaps this is a different cheese? I mean, the name Tomini sounds like it can be very generic way of saying baby-Tomme and Tomme is pretty much any round cheese that doesn't have another name.

It is the same cheese. The recipe you saw we usually prepare on the grill, but it is also good in the oven, but it should be wrapped with speck, and not bacon. Bacon is a fatty cut from the stomach area of the pig, while speck is from the thigh(?) - from the prosciutto area-the rump? I can't think of the right term in english right now. Speck is a smoked salumi, and it is usually sliced very thin, and I have to say it is pretty good on these tomini. These tomini, on their own, lack all personality, which is why they have to be dressed up and cooked. I found two pics online, and am attaching them. In the region where I live we make a lot of fonduta and polenta concia, but I also love pizzoccheri, one of my winter favorites, origin from the Valtellina area (in the Como area) it is essentially buckwheat pasta, potatoes, cabbage, garlic, fontina, bitto, parmigiano and butter! Delicious! You definitely don't have to sell me on the wonders of melted cheese! I love it! I have actually been making pepper jack in the hopes of being able to replicate my Tilamook quesadillas from home...